Police said one of
the suspects grabbed the tenant, 21-year-old Dmitri Lawrence Brown, by
the throat, forced him down, then put a hand over his eyes while the
other two suspects attempted to steal jewelry from the apartment.

As
the suspects were leaving, Brown was able to get up and grab a gun,
police said. He then shot and killed the suspect who had been holding
him down, police said.

Update: Comments sent to me by a source who was at the turn in event in Racine on Saturday the 27th, said that one person had purchased 7 BB guns new at Walmart to turn in at the event. Only 77 guns were turned in altogether.

The source says that the BB guns were purchased for $120 and turned in for $350.

It appears that the event organizers are learning something about market economics. More resources offered for a product stimulate demand. Reducing supply at one source is likely to increase demand at remaining sources.

If you remove some used guns from the market, you are, in aggregate, increasing demand for new guns. I wonder if gun manufacturers approve of gun turn in events, as they clearly increase the demand for new guns.

Other sources noted that the police officers at the event were polite and courteous to the private buyers who were present.

As noted in the original article, $2,500 was still available at the end of the event.

This is the inverse of nullification of federal gun laws. The California AG seems to be claiming that she has authority to determine what handguns federal agents are allowed to have. Note that there are no microstamped handguns yet. Should be a fun case.

Apparently, Attorney General (AG) Kamala Harris has changed California State Department of Justice policy and is now limiting federal law enforcement agents’ ability to acquire handguns. The AG says the feds can only buy firearms listed on the Roster of Handguns Certified for Sale (like the rest of us).

California law restricts the types of handguns people can acquire through licensed firearm dealers (PC 32000). As backwards as it sounds, before most Californians can acquire a handgun, that firearm must not be considered “unsafe.” To not be considered “unsafe,” handguns must pass performance tests and have certain features that (in theory only) make the firearms allegedly safer (PC 31910).

Most problematic for the California public is the recent development that before any semiautomatic pistol can be added to the Roster of guns approved for sale they must be equipped with “microstamping” technology (PC 31910(b)(7)). Starting a couple months ago, this easily circumvented engraving technology is now required on new semiautomatic pistols before they can be added to the approved roster (pistols submitted for safety testing when “microstamping” was certified, on May 17, 2013, can still be added to the Roster

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

“This is for George Zimmerman.”That’s what one of three white men told a black man as they
approached him early Saturday in Washington before committing what
police are saying may be a hate crime, according to Metropolitan Police
Officer Anthony Clay.The men kicked the man, who was not identified, as they took his iPhone and wallet, the officer said Sunday, according to CNN.

Wow, three on one. Really brave, you racists. I guess Touré Neblett is right. We really are living in Emmett Till’s America. Haven’t you done enough already, white (and therefore racist) people?

…Wait, what? Hold on. Just a sec.

Oh, crap. Sorry, you guys, I got that all mixed up. They didn’t say
“This is for George Zimmerman,” they said “This is for Trayvon Martin.”
And the three muggers were black, and the victim was white.

Okay, forget everything I just said. This attack was not motivated by
racism, and no matter what Metro PD says, it definitely was not a hate
crime.

"Lockey went back inside to get his .357 magnum revolver and came to
the door and shouted at the subject, telling him that he had a gun,''
police stated in a report. "The subject started to flee then abruptly
turned around back toward the homeowner. Lockey fired a single gunshot
in an attempt to scare the intruder off. That apparently had the desired
effect, as the subject fled on foot."

Local hospitals were contacted in case the man was injured and sought medical treatment.

"He points the gun at the clerk. The clerk started backing out away
from the counter, Ashley grabs him, forces him at gunpoint up to the
register, makes him open it," said Shaddix.

(snip)

"Ashley starts pulling money out of the drawer. He took his eyes off
the clerk for a moment. The clerk sees that opportunity, pulls a handgun
he had hidden on his body and shot Ashley at least three times," said
Shaddix.

Monday, July 29, 2013

About as many people turned up to buy firearms as turned up to turn them in.

A total of 77 guns were turned in, with many of them being BB guns.

About 50 people turned up to buy any guns that were worth more than the gift cards offered by the turn in organizers. It is very common for people turning in guns to bring two or more guns to be turned in.

The turn in organizers had $2,500 left over to purchase more firearms. It will be used at some future event.

Many of the people who showed up to buy firearms were members of Wisconsin Carry.

Citizens purchasing private firearms at these events has become very common where private purchases are not banned by law.

Scholars have concluded that such events are ineffective at reducing crime, while opponents have said that they amount to little more than political theater aimed at undermining the Second Amendment, while being subsidized by local police forces.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

I believe it is incorrect to label the 14-old black boy as the "victim". His own family refers to him as a "professional thief", and no one has questioned that he was on the property illegally. Otherwise, this is a good analysis by Andrew Branca:

Merritt Landry, a 33-year-old “white caucasian” shot the victim, a
14-year-old black boy, in the head. A single spent cartridge case was
recovered at the scene, indicating that a semi-automatic weapon was used
and suggesting that a single shot was fired. The hour of the shooting
was approximately 2:00AM, on Friday, July 26, 2013. As of this writing
the victim is reported to remain alive, in critical condition at a local
hospital.

The victim was shot within feet from the rear door of Landry’s
dwelling in New Orleans, in an area accessible only by having to scale a
locked fence, suggesting forcible entry onto the property by the
victim.
A local resident and friend of Landry’s, Charles Hazouri, had
security cameras on the exterior of the home which appear to have
recorded the victim and a friend riding their bicycles up and down the
street at 1:44AM. Earlier in the evening, another neighbor had seen the
apparent friend biking around the neighborhood at 8:00PM. This neighbor,
like Landry a “white caucasian,” considered calling the police, but
decided against this for fear of being perceived as having racially
profiled a “kid who’s just biking.”

On the Wisconsin forum at opencarry.org, Law abider, a regular member, recounts a near Swatting, by a convenience store clerk:

On Friday night I was at the above mentioned gas station with my son who
is 20 years old. He wanted one can of flavored beer which he got and we
went to the counter. I am Ocing which I do all the time. I have been in
that gas station before a gazillion times Ocing and have bought my
snoot.

Anyway, the cashier who I have not seen before asked for an ID. I
looked at her and said 'My ID?" She said, "no, his". meaning my son's I
said "I am buying the can."

The clerk seems to misunderstand Wisconsin law. It is legal for a parent or guardian to buy alcohol for a minor to be consumed in the home. Law abider and his son go to another store and buy the beer. They then go home. Law abider explains:

a fer(sic) minutes
after we arrived home, I get a call from my constitutional leo buddy
asking me where I was.

" I said "at moms'."

he said "I need to come over
and talk to you."

"Good" I thought since I had been trying to get hold
of him for a fer (sic) days.

he came over in a police SUV and with his partner
in a regular squad car. he said" some one just filed a complaint
against you and I know it is false."

he proceeded to tell me the events
that unfolded after I left there. he got a 911 call saying that an Arab
was at the store and because he was not served, lifted up his shirt and
flashed a gun and left in a maroon car.

I was in a white caddy. Then
they did see a maroon car going up the highway and called for massive
backup. Three squads from hastings (sic) MN across the river and two Pierce
county deputies swarmed this maroon car and at gunpoint hauled out the
terrified owner.

OOPS

Further inquiry by the police revealed Law abider's name from the store clerk. Security camera footage was requested, and the case will be referred to a detective.

It appears that the clerk may have made false statements previously, and there may be both criminal and civil actions against the clerk.

Fortunately, Law abider was known by the local police. He says:

Thank God My
leo buddy and his partner whom I also know were working the overnight
shift!

But what about those who are not fortunate enough to know the local constabulary? I have been stopped while open carrying in Arizona because someone (probably a Canadian winter visitor) did not understand Arizona law and exaggerated a bit. But I was a known quantity, having trained many local officers.

What about the driver of the maroon car that was in no way involved? The clerk put the driver at considerable risk.

If this goes to court, we will likely not hear any more about it for some time.

This is the kind of positive police work that we seldom hear about, because no one was shot, beat, or ended up in the hospital. It also points out the obvious advantages of knowning and supporting your local police.

I have read posters on statist blogs that have advocated calling police on open carriers. Sometimes those calls are "enhanced" to make them a bit more interesting. It is a dangerous and irresponsible practice that needs to be stopped with appropriate legal sanctions.

Fortunately, police are learning. We still see overreactions in some locations, such as a few days ago in Wisconsin near Eau Claire or Thursday in Maine, but they are becoming less frequent as more people exercise their rights.

Knife Rights has recently received numerous emails and calls seeking clarification of the new Texas law (HB1862)
repealing the ban on automatic (switchblade) knives that Knife Rights
passed this year. This new law goes into effect on September 1.

The Texas Legislature will
be back is session in 2015 and Knife Rights will be there working to
remove the remaining restrictions and to get Knife Law Preemption
passed. In the meantime there are still limitations that Texas owners of
automatic knives must be aware of and they are:

First, the definition of
an Illegal Knife in Sec. 46.01(6)(C) still includes "dagger, including
but not limited to dirk, stilletto and poniard." That has not changed.
None of these type knives, dagger, etc., are defined in Texas law, but
based on case law generally you should assume that a "dagger" covers any
double-edged blade. This would include automatic knives with
double-edged blades.

Some have suggested that
you might make a case for the position that when the legislature
repealed the ban on switchblades, that repeal covers any automatic
knife, regardless of blade style. That is referred to technically as a
"presumptive repeal" defense. However, unless you want to be a test
case, spend thousands and thousands of dollars and possibly still end up
in jail if you lose, that could be a very risky position to take. We do
not recommend testing the law by carrying a double-edged knife.

The reports are based on an ABC News interview with Juror B29, the
sole nonwhite juror. She has identified herself only by her first name,
Maddy. She’s been framed as the woman who was bullied out of voting to
convict Zimmerman. But that’s not true. She stands by the verdict. She
yielded to the evidence and the law, not to bullying. She thinks
Zimmerman was morally culpable but not legally guilty. And she wants us
to distinguish between this trial and larger questions of race and
justice.

ABC News hasn’t posted a full unedited video or transcript of the interview. The video that has been broadcast—on World News Tonight, Nightline, and Good Morning America—has
been cut and spliced in different ways, often so artfully that the
transitions appear continuous. So beware what you’re seeing. But the
video that’s available already shows, on closer inspection, that Maddy
has been manipulated and misrepresented. Here are the key points.

Dave Workman does a good job with this column. It deserves more exposure.

George Zimmerman was found not guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, so he ought to be hanged and a keystone self-defense law should be scrapped, considering the continuing press demonization of both Zimmerman and a statute that had nothing to do with the fatal confrontation.

(snip)

If one carefully analyzes the evidence, as nationally-recognized firearms and self-defense expert Massad Ayoob has done in his Backwoods Home series, they will know the Buffalo News is spreading buffalo chips disguised as objective observation.

The Buffalo News calls SYG law an “atrocity.” How's that for objectivity?

There is no evidence that Zimmerman confronted Martin, but there is
evidence that Martin attacked Zimmerman. There is no evidence Zimmerman
was emboldened to follow Martin, but there is evidence Zimmerman
believed he was helping the police dispatcher, who did not “warn him not
to” follow Martin, but did say that the police did not need him to do
that, a fact that testimony confirmed had no force of law, according to
Ayoob. It is also clear from the evidence that when advised by the
call-taker that it wasn’t necessary for Zimmerman to follow Martin, he
immediately broke off his effort and turned to go back to his car. It
was then that he was struck with a nose-breaking blow and knocked down.

Nice to see proactive homeowners. Texas law allows for more liberal use of force than many other states.

On Wednesday afternoon at 1:30 p.m., a homeowner caught a burglar red-handed and confronted him with a gun, according to Houston police. HPD Sgt. S.F. Red said the homeowner saw the thief walking out of his yard on Priest Street in northeast Houston, carrying the homeowner's window air conditioning unit. The homeowner, who does not wish to be identified, pulled out his gun and shot at the apparent burglar, police said.

HOUSTON
-- On Wednesday afternoon at 1:30 p.m., a homeowner caught a burglar
red-handed and confronted him with a gun, according to Houston police.
HPD Sgt. S. F. Red said the homeowner saw the thief walking out of his
yard on Priest Street in northeast Houston, carrying the homeowner’s
window air conditioning unit. The homeowner, who did not wish to be
identified, pulled out his gun and shot at the apparent burglar, police
said. "The homeowner was legally armed," Sgt. Red said. - See more at:
http://www.sanantoniopost.com/index.php/sid/216056464/scat/f18f75b7970654da/#sthash.0FoE4FSZ.dpuf

OnOnHOUSTON
-- On Wednesday afternoon at 1:30 p.m., a homeowner caught a burglar
red-handed and confronted him with a gun, according to Houston police.
HPD Sgt. S. F. Red said the homeowner saw the thief walking out of his
yard on Priest Street in northeast Houston, carrying the homeowner’s
window air conditioning unit. The homeowner, who did not wish to be
identified, pulled out his gun and shot at the apparent burglar, police
said. "The homeowner was legally armed," Sgt. Red said. - See more at:
http://www.sanantoniopost.com/index.php/sid/216056464/scat/f18f75b7970654da/#sthash.0FoE4FSZ.dpuf

Around 4 p.m. a man carrying a 9-inch knife and a baseball bat entered the gun shop and smashed a display case, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. His apparent aim? An unloaded semi-automatic handgun.

The store’s manager then grabbed his own gun. That gun, however, was loaded.

A young man was exercising his Second Amendment and Wisconsin Constitutional rights in Wisconsin when he was stopped by police, questioned and arrested for Obstruction of Justice and Disorderly Conduct. Police allege that initial reports of Mr. Hoffman placed him within 1,000 feet of a school. It is not clear if Mr. Hoffman was within a 1,000 feet of a school when he was accosted.

3) Since the WI Supreme Court has ruled that it is NOT obstruction to refuse to give your name, or to remain silent, that charge is bogus & should never have been filed.

4) Since the law says that it is not disorderly conduct
to go armed (openly or concealed, loaded or not), and that law does not
specify a type of firearm, that charge is bogus & should never have
been filed.

5) They have to prove that he was knowingly within 1000' of a school, and on public property.

It is unknown if Mr. Hoffman had a concealed carry permit or not . A permit is not necessary to carry openly in Wisconsin, and a person with a permit is not required to show it to police if they are not carrying concealed. If Mr. Hoffman had a concealed carry permit, then it was not illegal for him to be carrying within 1,000 feet of a school, because he would fall under one of the exceptions of the infamous law.

I suspect that Mr. Hoffman will be the recipient of a considerable settlement in a few months. That is how it has worked in a number of other open carry cases in Wisconsin, and that was before the new Shall Issue law made clear that open carrying was *not* disorderly conduct.

What is likely, is that Mr. Hoffman did not break the Gun Free School Zone law in Wisconsin, or they would have arrested him for that. He has not yet been charged with anything, and was released. Wisconsin law specifically states that openly carrying firearms is not disorderly conduct. The law was changed because of numerous instances of law enforcement agencies harassing people openly carrying firearms, charging them with disorderly conduct.

From 1893 to 1896, the United States Supreme Court handed down a
series of decisions involving self-defense and the carrying and use of
firearms for self- defense. These cases laid the foundation for a 1921
opinion,
authored by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, that became the most
important armed
self- defense case in American legal history, upholding and extending
the right
to armed self-defense. In these Self-Defense Cases, the Supreme Court
fought out
a bitter confrontation with Federal District Judge Isaac Parker, the
presiding
judge in all but one of the cases, and a judge who is much admired today
by
Chief Justice William Rehnquist. [FN1]

Until the 1960s, the 1893-96 period was the Supreme Court's
greatest period of activism against capital sentences. The Self-Defense Cases
raise the issues that are still important as our judiciary enters the
Twenty-First Century: accusations that appellate judges who reverse capital
convictions are "soft on crime" and use "technicalities" to mask their personal
opposition to the death penalty, the limits of how far appellate judges can go
in restraining a zealous trial judge, whether ethnic
minorities or uneducated people can receive a fair trial or a fair appeal, and
the scope of the right to use deadly force for protection. An additional issue
is whether *295narrowing the right of self-defense is an advance for civilization or an
assault on civil liberty. As we wrestle with all of these issues today, it would
be wise for us to study how an earlier generation of judges dealt with these
questions.

Burglars are not "fair game" to be shot at indiscriminately. In this case, the citizen used deadly force in an inappropriate way that resulted in the death of the burglar. The penalties are that he has been convicted as a felon, has lost the right to vote and to own firearms, must pay $1,000 for funeral costs, and be under supervision for five years. From athensnews.com:

A Jacksonville area man who last month fatally shot
an alleged burglar as he left a neighbor's home pleaded no contest Tuesday
morning in Athens County Common Pleas Court.

According to an account of the incident as provided
by law enforcement, the shooter, 39-year-old Randy D. Richmond claimed that,
acting under the influence of a strong adrenaline rush, he shot 33-year-old
Keith "P.J." Rutter in an attempt to keep him from escaping, and also out of
fear that he might attack Richmond with a knife.

Richmond reportedly told officers he never planned to
kill Rutter, only to stop him. He pleaded to two charges including reckless
homicide, a third-degree felony, and negligent homicide, a first-degree
misdemeanor, in the June 20 shooting death of Rutter, who lives in the same
area

It became clear that the burglar was not a threat, because he was moving away from Mr. Richmond, with thick foliage separating them, and at no time did he display the knife that he possessed in a threatening manner.

What is also clear, is that the authorities in this Ohio town had some sympathy for a citizen who was trying to stop a rash of burglaries in the area.

Blackburn said after the court hearing that shell
casings collected at the scene fit this narrative. He characterized the
shooting during the incident as a "very unlucky shot," noting that Richmond hit
Rutter uphill through trees and foliage with limited, if any, visibility, and
without taking careful aim.

It is worth noting that the mother of the burglar agreed with the sentence and made the following statement:

"I would like to apologize to the public for what my
son has done to anyone," she wrote, "but have respect for me because I was his
mother, and I have lost part of my heart."

The decision to use deadly force is a serious one, as this case illustrates. The shooter should never have fired. He could not even see the burglar clearly, if at all, through the thick foliage.

This case can be taken as one in which "warning shots" or "shooting to wound" failed spectacularly.

CHICAGO (STMW) – A Gary teen was shot and killed
during a struggle over a gun he apparently pointed at a robbery victim
Monday night, the Post-Tribune is reporting.

Marquise Stokes, 19, of the 500 block of Kentucky Street, was
pronounced dead outside near the intersection of 7th Avenue and
Connecticut Street about 10:30 p.m., a news release from the Lake County
coroner said.

I received an email today asking some questions about H937 and its
effect on the everyday lives of CHP holders in NC. Rather than answer
him, and the next guy, and the next, I thought it would make a good
subject for a post.

As a valid NC CCW holder, and someone who carries his
handgun wherever possible, when will this bill become law now that it
has passed both the house and senate? Also, even after reading it, I
still have some questions that you may be able to answer:

does this make it legal for me to carry ANYWHERE alcohol is served, ie resturants and bars?

Since it states gatherings where admission is charged, does that cover movie theatres, regardless of the no handgun signs?

Does this also cover gatherings such as parades or festivals/fairs?

Let’s take them in order.

When will this bill become law – So long as the governor signs H937 it becomes law on Oct 1, 2013.

Does it make it legal to carry ANYWHERE alcohol is served, ie. restaurants and bars - There are no “bars” in North Carolina. There are “Restaurants” and “Eating Establishments.” These
places MAY have alcohol licenses. The difference between a Restaurant
and an “Eating Establishment” is size. Restaurants have seating for 36
people. The short answer is Yes, you can, if you have a CHP. As always,
these locations are private property and may post signs prohibiting
firearms.

Gatherings where admission is charged – You may, under this law,
carry in theaters (both live action and movie). Again, you have to have a
CHP, and you are still prohibited from carrying if the owner posts a No
Guns sign.

Does this cover gatherings such as parades or festivals/fairs – It
was never illegal to carry in a festival or fair, only Parades, Funeral
processions, and demonstrations. It will still be illegal to carry at a
demonstration, but if you have a CHP it will no longer be illegal to
carry at a parade or funeral procession.

There you go! If you have more questions for me, use the contact form above and I will answer to the best of my ability.
Here is a link to my post on H937 as passed by the NCGA and presented to the Governor.

A pretty good analysis of the Houston woman with rifle vs man with knife and umbrella shooting, from Legal Insurrection:

Hungry for another claimed example of a deadly Stand-Your-Ground
defensive encounter, the mainstream media has seized upon the
gas-station shooting death of a black man by a rifle-armed woman, also
black, this past Sunday in Houston.

Video of the encounter was captured by the gas station’s security
cameras, both inside the enclosed portion of the station, where it seems
the encounter began, and out by the pumps where the encounter turned
deadly.

Much of the information available to date is from “news” sources, so
the “facts” as described must be considered malleable. It appears,
however, that the man made some unwanted sexual advances on the woman
inside the gas station.

When the woman was standing beside her car near the pumps, the
man–58-year-old Louis Daniel–who was killed can be seen circling around
the rear of the car, in an aggressive predator-like fashion, then
closing distance with her. He was holding what appears to be an umbrella
in his right hand, and the news claims he was holding a knife in his
left, although this is not discernible in the low qualify security
footage. A knife was, however, recovered near his body.

The boy's life was saved, but Srigley was left with legal troubles. In a
deal with prosecutors, Srigley agreed to pay a $1,000 fine and register
his handgun and two long guns in storage after his planned move to
Maryland.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

LaPORTE, Ind. — No criminal charges will be filed against a house
renter who shot and killed a Three Oaks Township man on July 8 after the
man broke in wielding a hatchet.

LaPorte County Prosecutor Bob
Szilagyi said Stephen Penny was clearly acting in self-defense during
the confrontation north of Hudson Lake in northern LaPorte County.
Szilagyi’s office said it will take no further action.

“Some people from another apartment in our complex came down, about
fifteen of them, and they jumped on him. They began to jump on him and
beat him and kick him, and as he was falling down he reached in his
pocket and pulled out a gun and shot, to defend himself.”

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

The youngest Aldrich got a knife and began cutting himself then
became aggressive towards his father and grandfather, Major said. At
that point, Carlton Aldrich fired a few warning shots with a pistol into
the ground and the elder two Aldrichs retreated inside, deputies said.

Bradley
Aldrich followed them inside, still armed with a knife, so Carlton
Aldrich shot him once in the thigh to defend himself and Gregory
Aldrich, Major said.

The man told police that when he learned of the alarm going off next
door at the area in which he used for storage, he grabbed his 12 gauge
shotgun and went to check the area. When he approached the front of the
residence he stated he heard a “scuffling” noise and yelled “Come out, I
have a weapon” to the suspect inside the residence.

At that
point a male wearing dark clothing leaped through a screen and onto the
porch and began running towards his direction, according to the owner,
which prompted him to fire his shotgun one time into the air.

HOUSTON -- Homicide investigators with HPD said a woman who shot and
killed a man in a gas station parking lot may have feared for her life.

The confrontation occurred Sunday evening at the Gulf station located on Cullen Boulevard near Yellowstone in southeast Houston.

Surveillance video shows the shooter, described as a 23-year-old
woman, retrieving a rifle from the trunk of her car and pointing it
toward the ground near a man armed with an umbrella and a pocket knife.

Then it shows the man swinging at the woman as she steps back and fires the
weapon.

On January 16th, 2013, at a press conference, President Obama announced that he would be taking 23 executive actions to reduce gun violence. There had been much speculation on what the president might do with executive orders.

Representative Stockman from Texas had warned the President about not infringing on the Second Amendment with executive orders.

This has lead to some confusion about what executive orders were signed. Forbes listed "The 23 Executive Orders On Gun Safety Signed Today by the President", which would indicate that all of the 23 actions were executive orders.

Poliltico apparently believed that the President signed an executive order to that effect when it stated that:

Obama signed an executive order Wednesday to “[c]larify that the
Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients
about guns in their homes,” part of a package of 23 executive orders on
gun violence prevention in response to the massacre in Newtown, Conn.

However, no such executive order was signed on 16 January, 2013, or at any time during 2013. The list of executive orders signed in 2013 does not include any that deal with what doctors may ask patients under the provisions of the Affordable Care Act.

Here are the relevant provisions of the Affordable Care Act:

The Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act, Section 2716, "Prohibition on
Discrimination in Favor of Highly Compensated Individuals," page 766,
signed into law on Mar. 23, 2010, available at www.thomas.gov, states:

A wellness and health promotion activity implemented under subsection
(a)(1)(D) may not require the disclosure or collection of any
information relating to

(A) the presence or storage of a lawfully possessed firearm or
ammunition in the residence or on the property of an individual; or the
lawful use, possession, or storage of a firearm or ammunition by an
individual.

(2) LIMITATION ON DATA COLLECTION.—None of the authorities provided
to the Secretary under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or
an amendment made by that Act shall be construed to authorize or may be
used for the collection of any information relating to the lawful
ownership or possession of a firearm or ammunition;

(B) the lawful use of a firearm or ammunition; or

(C) the lawful storage of a firearm or ammunition.

(3) LIMITATION ON DATABASES OR DATABANKS.—None of the authorities
provided to the Secretary under the Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act or an amendment made by that Act shall be construed to
authorize or may be used to maintain records of individual ownership or
possession of a firearm or ammunition.

(4) LIMITATION ON DETERMINATION OF PREMIUM RATES OR ELIGIBILITY FOR
HEALTH INSURANCE.—A premium rate may not be increased, health insurance
coverage may not be denied, and a discount, rebate, or reward offered
for participation in a wellness program may not be reduced or withheld
under any health benefit plan issued pursuant to or in accordance with
the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or an amendment made by
that Act on the basis of, or on reliance upon

(A) the lawful ownership or possession of a firearm or ammunition; or

(B) the lawful use or storage of a firearm or ammunition.

(5) LIMITATION ON DATA COLLECTION REQUIREMENTS FOR INDIVIDUALS.

No individual shall be required to disclose any information under any
data collection activity authorized under the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act or an amendment made by that Act relating to (A) the
lawful ownership or possession of a firearm or ammunition; or (B) the
lawful use, possession, or storage of a firearm or ammunition.”

It appears clear that doctors may ask about firearms or ammunition, as long as they do not record the information in such a way that it is included in databanks or databases authorized by the Affordable Care Act. Furthermore, they may not be required to ask such information, nor may patients be required to give such information.

There does not seem to be any Executive Order to this effect, so what did President Obama sign for action item 16?

I thought that perhaps the President might have signed a Presidential Memorandum to clarify the situation. But the list of Presidential Memorandum does not show any in 2013 that deal with doctors asking about guns in the Affordable Care Act. There is a Presidential Memorandum from January 16th, 2013 that calls for public health research into the causes and preventions of gun violence, but it does not seem to have anything to do with the Affordable Care Act.

I looked at presidential proclamations. Proclamations are primarily symbolic actions that have little legal effect. Still, there was no Presidential Proclamation about doctors asking patients about guns and the Affordable Care Act. There was a Presidential Proclamation on January 16, 2013 about Religious Freedom Day, but not about doctors and guns.

• Protect the rights of health care providers to talk to their patients about gun safety:
Doctors and other health care providers also need to be able to ask about firearms in their
patients’ homes and safe storage of those firearms, especially if their patients show signs of
certain mental illnesses or if they have a young child or mentally ill family member at home.
Some have incorrectly claimed that language in the Affordable Care Act prohibits doctors from
asking their patients about guns and gun safety. Medical groups also continue to fight against
state laws attempting to ban doctors from asking these questions. The Administration will
issue guidance clarifying that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit or otherwise regulate
communication between doctors and patients, including about firearms.

The PDF file is dated 16 January, the same day that President Obama signed his executive actions.

But, where is the guidance that is promised in the paragraph? All that I can find is action item 16, which contains far less information than the PDF file, which promises some guidance, sometime in the future.

Perhaps, somewhere in the labyrinthine bowels of the federal bureaucracy, this guidance exists, duly issued and signed by President Obama. Perhaps, with all the ceremony and pomp given to the signing on 16 January, 2013, the document has already been made public.

If anyone has knowledge of this document, please contact me, so that I can update this article with it and the public can determine what impact it might have on the Affordable Care Act.

Monday, July 22, 2013

Forget the government buyback programs that destroy guns after collecting them. The Armed Citizen Project is a private program that gives the guns to single mothers and the urban poor.

“We see this as a buyback we can believe in, one that removes old and
unused firearms from homes of existing gun owners, and uses them to
create new responsible gun owners in our own communities,” Kyle Coplen,
the Armed Citizen Project’s founder, said in a statement from the organization.

The group accepts both monetary and firearm donations. Donated guns
are provided, with training, after background checks are performed,
according to the statement.

On Aug. 10 the group will have its inaugural National Empowerment
Day, with plans to train as many as 500 women, and arm entire
neighborhoods in crime-ridden cities.

This ban and restrictions appear blatantly unconstitutional under Heller and McDonald. I am sure there will be court challenges. Too bad the commissioners will not be held personally accountable for their lack of responsibility. From the Daily Herald:

The Cook County Board Wednesday voted to ban the sale of guns to
people under 21, restrict how people with children at home store their
ammunition and add firearms to its list of banned so-called assault
weapons.

The votes come as suburbs have until midnight Friday to
approve their own assault weapons bans, though few have expressed much
interest in doing so. Cook County Board attorneys said they believe
because they already have a ban in place, they can change it whenever
they want. But getting in under the state deadline could prevent some
legal challenges.

The Heller decision clearly stated that there is a Second Amendment right to have handguns available in the home for self defense. To require those firearms to be locked up violates that clear ruling. There are numerous other potential challenges to this law, such as banning commonly available handguns.

Here
is a case that the liberal point to in arguing against Stand Your
Ground laws. To me, assuming that the facts are accurate, it certainly
looks like Marissa behaved properly and I have stated that before in
interviews. From Salon.com:

On
Aug. 1, 2010, Marissa Alexander, a 31-year-old mother of three, with a
master’s degree and no criminal record, was working for a payroll
software company in Jacksonville. She was estranged from her abusive
husband, Rico Gray, and had a restraining order against him. Thinking
he was not at home, she went to their former house to get some
belongings. The two got into an argument. Alexander says that Gray
threatened her and she feared for her life. Gray corroborates
Alexander’s story: “I was in a rage. I called her a whore and bitch and …
I told her … if I can’t have you, nobody going to have you,” he said,
in a deposition. When Alexander retreated into the bathroom, Gray tried
to break the door. She ran into the garage, but couldn’t leave because
it was locked. She came back, he said, with a registered gun, which she
legally owned, and yelled at him to leave. Gray recalls, “I told her …
I ain’t going nowhere, and so I started walking toward her … I was
cursing and all that … and she shot in the air.” Even Gray understands
why Alexander fired the warning shot: “If my kids wouldn’t have been
there, I probably would have put my hand on her. Probably hit her. I got
five baby mommas and I put my hands on every last one of them, except
for one … I honestly think she just didn’t want me to put my hands on
her anymore so she did what she feel like she have to do to make sure
she wouldn’t get hurt, you know. You know, she did what she had to do.”
And Gray admits Alexander was acting in self-defense, intending to scare
and stop but not harm him: “The gun was never actually pointed at me …
The fact is, you know … she never been violent toward me. I was always
the one starting it.” Ultimately nobody was hurt. Nobody died. On May
12, 2012, it took a jury 12 minutes to find Alexander guilty of
aggravated assault. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison. . . .

One case
doesn't prove discrimination. But if there is discrimination, it seems
to me that the solution is to fix the discrimination, not to banThey go
on to claim:

The
Tampa Bay Times found that defendants claiming “stand your ground” are
more successful if the victim is black. Seventy-three percent of those
who killed a black person faced no penalty. Only 59 percent of those who
killed a white person got off. The Urban Institute determined that in
“stand your ground” states, when white shooters kill black victims, 34
percent of the resulting homicides are deemed justifiable. When black
shooters kill white victims only 3 percent of the deaths are ruled
justifiable. . . .

So I looked at the data and I think that the Daily Caller made a mistake. At least for decided cases, 69 percent of blacks who have claimed the Stand Your Ground law as a justification were not convicted (24 out of 35).

It is not clear what federal law or legal procedure allows Mr. Holder to stop a police chief in Florida from returning a firearm to an innocent man.

The federal government has the power to infringe on Second Amendment
rights only when a person falls into the categories of prohibited
people, which includes felons, dangerously mentally ill and domestic
abusers.

There is no reasonable cause for the Justice Department
to hold the evidence, since it has already been examined, given a DNA
test and used in trial. What more can the federal government find out
from holding Mr. Zimmerman’s gun?

And the investigation that Mr. Holder is pursuing — whether this was a racially-based civil rights case — has nothing to do with the weapon used.

African Americans benefit from Florida’s “Stand Your Ground”
self-defense law at a rate far out of proportion to their presence in
the state’s population, despite an assertion by Attorney General Eric
Holder that repealing “Stand Your Ground” would help African Americans.

Black Floridians have made about a third of the state’s total “Stand
Your Ground” claims in homicide cases, a rate nearly double the black
percentage of Florida’s population. The majority of those claims have
been successful, a success rate that exceeds that for Florida whites.

Nonetheless, prominent African Americans including Holder and “Ebony
and Ivory” singer Stevie Wonder, who has vowed not to perform in the
Sunshine State until the law is revoked, have made “Stand Your Ground” a
central part of the Trayvon Martin controversy.

This account was found on a site devoted to survival in times when societal order has broken down. It offers some interesting background to the Martin/Zimmerman confrontation. Response to the Zimmerman trial verdict was mixed at the site. This was penned by "Mac":

I know the area where Zimmerman was forced to kill to survive. I walked away from a very lucrative service contract in Sanford, Florida just two weeks before the incident happened because of the people that live there. One of the properties I was assigned work on was just around the corner from where it happened.

I got tired of having to run from the vicious pit bulls that everyone seems to have. I got tired of hearing someone yell “hey there is a white guy over here” followed by having a dozen blacks coming around and messing with my truck and tools tryingall the locks and chains looking for something to steal. I got tired of having to have someone ride along to guard my equipment while I worked.

The last straw for me was when I came from the back of a house and found a black guy standing in the back of my truck pulling on the chains and locks trying to remove tools that were locked and chained to the truck. He was so focused on trying to find something to steal he did not notice me walk up behind him.

When I asked very loudly, “Find something you like asshole?” he jumped out of the back of the truck and ran off.

I decided that if I had to carry a weapon with me to be able to do my job safely then I did not need a job in that town.

I am not a bit surprised that this happened in Sanford.

Is this a common experience in the areas near Sanford? Is it infested with bold thieves that attempt to steal everything that is not chained down? Are black people in the area so overcome by black racism that they see every white person as another potential victim?

I have read that this is the case in many urban ghettoes. It goes a long way to explain the poverty of the ghettoes. If no private property is respected, what business would want to locate there? If there is a high rate of theft, then business will have to charge higher prices for their products to compensate for the theft and insurance costs.

Thomas Sowell noted that "injusticies and inequities" are not the major causes of crime, but it is clear that crime can be a major cause of poverty.

Dean Weingarten

I
know the area where Zimmerman was forced to kill to survive. I walked
away from a very lucrative service contract in Sanford, Florida just two
weeks before the incident happened because of the people that live
there. One of the properties I was assigned work on was just around the
corner from where it happened.
I got tired of having to run from the vicious pit bulls that everyone
seems to have. I got tired of hearing someone yell “hey there is a
white guy over here” followed by having a dozen blacks coming around and
messing with my truck and tools trying all the locks and chains looking
for something to steal. I got tired of having to have someone ride
along to guard my equipment while I worked.
The last straw for me was when I came from the back of a house and
found a black guy standing in the back of my truck pulling on the chains
and locks trying to remove tools that were locked and chained to the
truck. He was so focused on trying to find something to steal he did not
notice me walk up behind him.
When I asked very loudly, “Find something you like asshole?” he jumped out of the back of the truck and ran off.
I decided that if I had to carry a weapon with me to be able to do my
job safely then I did not need a job in that town. I am not a bit
surprised that this happened in Sanford.
- See more at: http://shtfschool.com/security/self-defense-in-survival-situations/#comment-11510

I
know the area where Zimmerman was forced to kill to survive. I walked
away from a very lucrative service contract in Sanford, Florida just two
weeks before the incident happened because of the people that live
there. One of the properties I was assigned work on was just around the
corner from where it happened.
I got tired of having to run from the vicious pit bulls that everyone
seems to have. I got tired of hearing someone yell “hey there is a
white guy over here” followed by having a dozen blacks coming around and
messing with my truck and tools trying all the locks and chains looking
for something to steal. I got tired of having to have someone ride
along to guard my equipment while I worked.
The last straw for me was when I came from the back of a house and
found a black guy standing in the back of my truck pulling on the chains
and locks trying to remove tools that were locked and chained to the
truck. He was so focused on trying to find something to steal he did not
notice me walk up behind him.
When I asked very loudly, “Find something you like asshole?” he jumped out of the back of the truck and ran off.
I decided that if I had to carry a weapon with me to be able to do my
job safely then I did not need a job in that town. I am not a bit
surprised that this happened in Sanford.
- See more at: http://shtfschool.com/security/self-defense-in-survival-situations/#comment-11510

I
know the area where Zimmerman was forced to kill to survive. I walked
away from a very lucrative service contract in Sanford, Florida just two
weeks before the incident happened because of the people that live
there. One of the properties I was assigned work on was just around the
corner from where it happened.
I got tired of having to run from the vicious pit bulls that everyone
seems to have. I got tired of hearing someone yell “hey there is a
white guy over here” followed by having a dozen blacks coming around and
messing with my truck and tools trying all the locks and chains looking
for something to steal. I got tired of having to have someone ride
along to guard my equipment while I worked.
The last straw for me was when I came from the back of a house and
found a black guy standing in the back of my truck pulling on the chains
and locks trying to remove tools that were locked and chained to the
truck. He was so focused on trying to find something to steal he did not
notice me walk up behind him.
When I asked very loudly, “Find something you like asshole?” he jumped out of the back of the truck and ran off.
I decided that if I had to carry a weapon with me to be able to do my
job safely then I did not need a job in that town. I am not a bit
surprised that this happened in Sanford.
- See more at: http://shtfschool.com/security/self-defense-in-survival-situations/#comment-11510

I
know the area where Zimmerman was forced to kill to survive. I walked
away from a very lucrative service contract in Sanford, Florida just two
weeks before the incident happened because of the people that live
there. One of the properties I was assigned work on was just around the
corner from where it happened.
I got tired of having to run from the vicious pit bulls that everyone
seems to have. I got tired of hearing someone yell “hey there is a
white guy over here” followed by having a dozen blacks coming around and
messing with my truck and tools trying all the locks and chains looking
for something to steal. I got tired of having to have someone ride
along to guard my equipment while I worked.
The last straw for me was when I came from the back of a house and
found a black guy standing in the back of my truck pulling on the chains
and locks trying to remove tools that were locked and chained to the
truck. He was so focused on trying to find something to steal he did not
notice me walk up behind him.
When I asked very loudly, “Find something you like asshole?” he jumped out of the back of the truck and ran off.
I decided that if I had to carry a weapon with me to be able to do my
job safely then I did not need a job in that town. I am not a bit
surprised that this happened in Sanford.
- See more at: http://shtfschool.com/security/self-defense-in-survival-situations/#comment-11510

I
know the area where Zimmerman was forced to kill to survive. I walked
away from a very lucrative service contract in Sanford, Florida just two
weeks before the incident happened because of the people that live
there. One of the properties I was assigned work on was just around the
corner from where it happened.
I got tired of having to run from the vicious pit bulls that everyone
seems to have. I got tired of hearing someone yell “hey there is a
white guy over here” followed by having a dozen blacks coming around and
messing with my truck and tools trying all the locks and chains looking
for something to steal. I got tired of having to have someone ride
along to guard my equipment while I worked.
The last straw for me was when I came from the back of a house and
found a black guy standing in the back of my truck pulling on the chains
and locks trying to remove tools that were locked and chained to the
truck. He was so focused on trying to find something to steal he did not
notice me walk up behind him.
When I asked very loudly, “Find something you like asshole?” he jumped out of the back of the truck and ran off.
I decided that if I had to carry a weapon with me to be able to do my
job safely then I did not need a job in that town. I am not a bit
surprised that this happened in Sanford.
- See more at: http://shtfschool.com/security/self-defense-in-survival-situations/#comment-11510

I
know the area where Zimmerman was forced to kill to survive. I walked
away from a very lucrative service contract in Sanford, Florida just two
weeks before the incident happened because of the people that live
there. One of the properties I was assigned work on was just around the
corner from where it happened.
I got tired of having to run from the vicious pit bulls that everyone
seems to have. I got tired of hearing someone yell “hey there is a
white guy over here” followed by having a dozen blacks coming around and
messing with my truck and tools trying all the locks and chains looking
for something to steal. I got tired of having to have someone ride
along to guard my equipment while I worked.
The last straw for me was when I came from the back of a house and
found a black guy standing in the back of my truck pulling on the chains
and locks trying to remove tools that were locked and chained to the
truck. He was so focused on trying to find something to steal he did not
notice me walk up behind him.
When I asked very loudly, “Find something you like asshole?” he jumped out of the back of the truck and ran off.
I decided that if I had to carry a weapon with me to be able to do my
job safely then I did not need a job in that town. I am not a bit
surprised that this happened in Sanford.
- See more at: http://shtfschool.com/security/self-defense-in-survival-situations/#comment-11510

There was no evidence that the 16 year old was under any real threat. He was probably on drugs that made him feel paranoid. Sad that his drug use or mental problems lead to his death, but false pretexts are often used by home invaders to gain entrance for malicious purposes.

A woman at the home said a male began beating on her front door about
1 a.m. Her 10-year-old daughter went to the door and the person began
yelling aggressively, "They're going to kill me. They're going to kill
me," over and over, the woman told News On 6.

As the little girl opened the door, Davis put one foot inside and
kept screaming, so the woman slammed the door in his face, she said.

He then punched through the window on the door and the woman said she
was frightened, so she woke her 17-year-old son and told him to get his
gun.

Her son, who is a senior at Hominy High School, grabbed a 12-guage
shotgun and fired as Davis reached his hand through the broken glass and
turned the doorknob trying to force entry.

Cortez Bumphus and Avery Pringle are now facing abduction, robbery
and weapons charges, after police say the pair kidnapped Hopes’ brother
at a Jefferson Avenue convenience store, forced him into a car at
gunpoint, and demanded drugs and money from his house.

What these two suspects didn’t know—that Hopes was there, and happens to be a legal gun owner.

“I grabbed my gun out of my drawer,” said Hopes, who walked out of
his room to shots being fired at him. “The shooting went on for 2-3
minutes.”

Friday, July 19, 2013

According to investigators, two men pulled up to a home in the 2700
block of Monticello Drive and tried to rob three men. One of the
victims had a gun and fired on the suspected robbers, killing one of the
men. The second man got away in an older model white sedan.

The homeowner was asleep when he was awoken by the sounds of someone
pushing the air conditioning unit out of his window. As the alleged
intruder began to enter the man’s home, the man grabbed his .40 caliber
Glock and fired one shot over the suspect’s head, police said, scaring
the suspect off.

When sheriff’s department officers arrived at that address, he said,
they found Robert Monroe Newman, 60, with a gunshot wound to the chest.
Also there were Newman’s wife, Linda Newman, 59; and their son, Robert
Luke Newman, 34, all of 688 Little Elkin Church Road. A woman who was a
guest but not a relative of the Newmans also was there, said Shew.

(snip)

Shew said he was told that Robert Monroe Newman, holding a gun, came
down a hallway in the house and an exchange of several rounds of gunfire
followed.

He said that in addition to Robert Monroe Newman
receiving a chest wound, Thompson was shot twice in the left thigh and
Smith was shot in the left leg.

"It’s 2013 and an American jury just acquitted a man who admitted to stalking and killing an unarmed child" — Richard Dreyfus, actor

I think you can see why in the face above. That face is expressing glee -- barely restrained delight. The slightest hint that America is unjust is manna from heaven for Leftists. They build their self-esteem on being wiser and more compassionate than "the masses". And given America's black/white tensions, a chance to see others as racist is not to be missed. It is America's most powerful form of condemnation so any chance to use it must be used even if it is only remotely justified.

It's pathetic that people need to condemn others in order to boost their own self-esteem but that's Leftists. They never cease finding fault.

I note however that many of the commentators refer to the 6' tall Martin as a "child". So the constant media use of pictures of Martin when he was a child may have misled some commentators in an important way. It would have made it less plausible that Zimmerman acted in self-defense.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

On Tuesday’s broadcast of Sean Hannity’s radio show, conservative commentator and author of “Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025?”
Pat Buchanan Buchanan criticized President Obama’s Department of
Justice for failing to stand against public violence after Saturday’s
verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman.

“What is taking place now, Sean, is not the prosecution of George
Zimmerman,” Buchanan said. “That’s over. He was found ‘not guilty’ on
all counts. He was found innocent on all counts. What’s taking place now
is the persecution of George Zimmerman. This man has his life
threatened. He is hiding. His family is being threatened. The Justice
Department is threatening him with a second trial on the basis of what, a
bunch of demonstrations and howls? This is not what is supposed to
happen in America.”

(snip)

But Buchanan was particular harsh on President Barack Obama. He
pointed to Obama’s rising to the occasion after the shooting of
then-Arizona Democratic Rep. Gabriel Giffords in 2010. But he said Obama
hasn’t stood up in this case.

Representative Bell was one of many sponsors of HB1700, the enacting bill that passed April 4th, 2013. On a July 16th Facebook post, Bell declares it was the original intent of the sponsors to decriminalize open carry.

It was the intent of the sponsors of Act 746 to
decriminalize the open carry of a firearm by persons not prohibited from
legally possessing the firearm. It’s my belief that the language
contained in 5-73-120 (a) will effectively do so when the new law takes
effect on August 16.
~ Nate Bell

Effective August 15, 2013, when HB 1700 takes effect, any
arrest, charge, or conviction for violating § 5-73-120 can only
lawfully arise if two elements of the offense are present. First, that a
person was carrying one of the specified weapons. And second, that she
was doing so “with a purpose to attempt to unlawfully employ the handgun, knife, or club as a weapon against a person.”
~ Mike Stollenwerk, OpenCarry.Org founder

But that is where Representative Bell disagrees with gun rights
advocates. Nate Bell believes concealed carry without a license is not
decriminalized under Act 746. If so, Arkansas will only become an open
carry state, not one that celebrates Constitutional Carry.

There are people who believe that the new law also will
allow concealed carry without a concealed carry license. I disagree with
this viewpoint based on several legal points that will be debated in
the courts over the next few months.
~ Nate Bell

Bell does not elaborate on that belief, nor does he mention what
crime a person could be charged with while carrying concealed without a
license.

Subscribe To Gun Watch

Background

“The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.” -- Thomas Jefferson

Syndicated columnist Charley Reese (1937-2013): "Gun control by definition affects only honest people. When a politician tells you he wants to forbid you from owning a firearm or force you to get a license, he is telling you he doesn’t trust you. That’s an insult. ... Gun control is not about guns or crime. It is about an elite that fears and despises the common people."

The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles -- Jeff Cooper (1920-2006)

Note for non-American readers: Crime reports from America which describe an offender just as a "teen" or "teenager" almost invariably mean a BLACK teenager.

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics.

Two lines below of a famous hymn that would be incomprehensible to Leftists today ("honor"? "right"? "freedom?" Freedom to agree with them is the only freedom they believe in)

First to fight for right and freedom,
And to keep our honor clean

It is of course the hymn of the USMC -- still today the relentless warriors that they always were.

The intellectual Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) said: "The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."

How much do you know about Trayvon Martin? Did you recognize him in the picture above? If not you may need to know more about him. It's all here (Backups here and here)

“An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.” -- Robert A. Heinlein

After all the serious stuff here, maybe we need a funny picture of a cantankerous cat